Movie Reviews

Wonderful footage of one the greatest singers

John K. Bailey | SF Bay Area, USA | 10/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I just had to say something to defend this 2DVD set from the previous review. Perhaps the sound isn't 5.1 Digital remastered whatever - but what a treat to see Dietrich Fischer Dieskau in some very rare footage. He rarely made video recordings, especially of lieder, so to have a whole program of Schubert, Strauss, Schumann and Beethoven, plus the complete Mahler Kindertotenlieder with a very young Loren Maazel conducting - and a whole disc of opera excerpts from Nozze di Figaro, Giovanni, Il tabarro, Die Frau Ohne Schatten, Arabella, and Lear -- what a treasure trove of incredible footage!

To top it off, there is a 10-15 minute interview with DF-D at the end of each DVD, a fascinating look at the incredible man who brought lieder to a whole new level and reintroduced it (and Mahler's music) to the world.

This is to be snapped up immediately by DF-D fans, and by serious students of voice."

The picture quality and sound is not state of the art, but t

Alan Majeska | Bad Axe, MI, USA | 01/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The video and sound quality of "The Art of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau" is not state of the art, but there is much to enjoy here. In Disc 1, about opera, there are excerpts from DFD's role as the Count in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro", from Jean Pierre Ponelle's 1976 film; footage of live performances of Richard Strauss's "Arabella" and "Die Frau ohne Schatten", both conducted by Joseph Keilberth; a Ferenc Fricsay led "Don Giovanni" (Berlin, 1961); and Aribert Reimann's 1980 atonal opera "Lear" (Munich, 1982). The sound in all but the Mozart Figaro and Reimann Lear is mono, but always pretty good, and not distorted in climaxes. Only those expecting top quality sound will be disappointed. DFD's 2005 interview, in German, but with English subtitles is very interesting, and enlightening. I am thankful DFD appears healthy, and he is still handsome at age 80.

Disc 2, devoted to lieder, is also interesting. Wolfgang Sawallisch as pianist makes a terrific accompanist in various songs of Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Wolf, and Richard Strauss. The video quality of the 1974 Berlin TV film is not the best, and may disappoint some, but the sound is quite good. I enjoyed this DVD, but I love lieder and will overlook poor video more than poor audio! The Mahler Kindertotenlieder with Lorin Maazel (cond.) is also fine, but I didn't find this as interesting as the Sawallisch accompanied lieder. There is another 2005 interview with DFD, in German with English subtitles, which I found fascinating, too.

I hope these DVDs sell well, and that DG will release more DFD material they may have in their vaults. I hope they can do similar DVDs of Hermann Prey (1929-1998), Fritz Wunderlich (1930-1966) and Karl Bohm (1894-1981) if there is enough filmed material (preferably in good audio) of them to do similar overviews. In short, I enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone who likes opera and Lieder of the Romantic and 20th century eras."